FIBT Skeleton World Cup Utah Olympic Park

Oh the joy of Winter sports!  I spent Friday morning at the coldest place in Utah the Olympic Park in Park City photographing the first event of the FIBT Skeleton World Cup 2009-2010 season.  I dread photographing any event at the UOP.  The weather is always hard to deal with, and all the events consist of humans flying down a track at extremely high speeds.   It’s exciting to watch, but difficult to photograph thanks to the awful photo positions along the track!

Japan’s Kazuhiro Koshi prepares for his first run of the FIBT Skeleton World Cup at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City.

Skeleton is a winter sport similar to lugeing in which a small sled is ridden downhill in a headfirst, prone position. The sport of skeleton sledding developed in the 1880s on the famed Cresta Run at Saint Moritz, Switz. The “bony” look of the early sleds gave the sport its name. Riders attain speeds of more than 80 miles (129 km) per hour. It was first contested at the Winter Olympic games in 1928.

Latvia’s Martins Dukurs during his first run of the FIBT Skeleton World Cup Thursday morning at the Utah Olympic Park.  Martins Dukurs took the Gold medal with a combined time of 1:39.75.

Switzerland’s Pascal Oswald.

Switzerland’s Gregor Staehli watches the competition on a small television at the finish house at the Utah Olympic Park during the second run.

Russia’s Alexander Tretiakov.

Finish house.

USA’s John Daly begins to slow down after crossing the finish line during his second run of competition.

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